Into the Midnight Wood

A Novel

By: Alexandra McCollum

Narrated by: Will Watt

A whimsical queer romance about two mismatched roommates whose fragile—and definitely not romantic at all—balance is upended by an impending family wedding and an otherworldly danger in the nearby enchanted wood.

There are at least 100 things wrong with Meredith Schwarzwelder. In fact, keeping track of these things is the only way David Carew has managed to remain living with him for as long as he has. Meredith is an irredeemable eccentric who flirts with everyone in his path (#3 on the list), cries at anything (#35), makes the worst coffee in the world (#70), and talks to mice, or imagines he does (#50).

It’s bad enough living with such a person on the edge of the Midnight Wood, but when magic starts to seep from the wood and a dark being emerges with a sinister plan involving Meredith, David decides that it’s time to leave the cottage, and his roommate, behind. Then Meredith’s brother gets engaged to the daughter of David’s boss, and David sees an opportunity: If he can insert himself into the festivities, maybe he can advance his career and get himself out of a personal rut.

With wedding bells sounding and the dangers of the Midnight Wood encroaching, David realizes there’s much more hiding beneath the surface of his roommate’s seemingly carefree charm, and that perhaps his own exasperation carries more fondness than he’d like to admit.

Cozy, sharp, steamy, and poignant, Into the Midnight Wood is a contemporary queer fairy tale about the masks we wear, the stories we tell, and the powerful need for true, honest connection to heal old wounds and new.

Critic reviews

"This quirky, magical, opposites-attract queer romance is given depth as it... portrays closed-off hearts, misunderstandings, and intense emotions in an utterly charming, steamy, and heartfelt story." —Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

"Absolutely irresistibly charming, with an achingly beautiful heart beneath all the charm! A gorgeous love story!" —Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

"This is the funniest book I've read all year! I would take an arrow for David and Meredith. In between swooning over their sharp-witted and steamy romance, I was absolutely cackling at their banter. Into the Midnight Wood is the romantic, mist-cloaked fairytale of my dreams." —Sydney J. Shields, #1 international and USA Today bestselling author of The Honey Witch

"A queer romantasy that enticingly blends the magical with the mundane....[with] a thoroughly satisfying resolution." —Publishers Weekly